


Good night Hidgens

by Zoya113



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Father figure hidgens, Gen, implied working boys?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-25 06:15:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21871417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoya113/pseuds/Zoya113
Summary: When Hidgens doesn’t go to bed on his own Emma takes it into her own hands to make sure he finally gets some sleep
Relationships: Professor Hidgens & Emma Perkins
Comments: 5
Kudos: 58





	Good night Hidgens

“Hey Hidgens,” Emma leant into Hidgens’ study. “What’re you still doing up?”

Hidgens glanced down at the clock. It was 2am. “I could ask you the same question.”

“I was just getting some water,” she gestured to the cup in her hands. “I had a weird nightmare so I woke up.”

“Are you alright? Do you need to lay down on the couch?” He tilted his head at the couch in the corner of the study. 

She shook her head. “I’m fine. It was just stupid stuff. You should go to sleep too. It’s way too late for you to be up writing music.”

Hidgens gave a sleepy laugh. “I’m an adult Emma. I can handle staying up a little bit late. I’ll go to bed soon, don’t worry about me.” 

Emma snorted, opening the door all the way so she could lean against the doorframe. “Big talk coming from a man who fell asleep in his office today.”

He hoped the darkness of the night covered his embarrassed blush. “I’m sorry, did you come by?” 

“Yeah, duh!” She nodded. “I thought we were gonna eat lunch together but I thought I’d let you sleep.” She held out a hand to him. “Come on, bed time now?” 

“Bed time for you, young lady,” he waved her hand away. “I’ll be done here in just a second.”

“Okay. Finish up.” She stayed planted in the doorframe, crossing her arms to watch him. 

He hung his head with a bashful yet impressed chuckle at her very obvious tactic. But he tidied up his composition papers into a neat stack and linked arms with her. “Alright then dear. Let’s go.” 

The bad thing was, neither of them were really all that tired. But making sure the other was getting the rest they needed was such a big priority that it had started to inconvenience themselves. 

Emma walked him through the dark hallway all the way to his door, before giving him a quick hug goodnight and scampering back to her bedroom. 

He moved over to his made bed, waiting until he heard Emma’s door shut. He sat down for a moment at the foot of his bed, contemplating if maybe he really did want to sleep, but from where he sat his bureau was right in his line of sight. He couldn’t see the photos behind the glass picture frames, but he knew what lay behind them. 

“Oh, my boys.” He hung his heavy head for a second, rubbing his temples.  
He had music to write. He couldn’t sit in his sullen room all night doing nothing, he knew he wasn’t going to sleep. 

He stood back up, slipping off his shoes and his coat so he could move more quietly to sneak past Emma’s room. 

He moved silently down the steps, holding onto the banister as he crept. 

“Hidgens!” He heard Emma’s voice from somewhere in the darkness. 

He almost jumped, slapping a hand to his rapidly beating heart as Emma made her presence known by the door of his office by stepping into the moonlight. “What are you still doing up? I thought you went to bed!”

“I could ask you the same question,” she teased. “I saw you left your keyboard on, so I came to turn it off so you wouldn’t have to get up. Why are you here again? You better not be sneaking about!” Her voice was funny like she was doing her best impression at being authoritative. 

It made him chuckle. “I was just getting a glass of water, dearest. Why don’t you go back to sleep? You have to work early tomorrow.” 

He could tell she rolled her eyes because she rolled her whole head with them. “You do to. And you can’t teach if you’re going to fall asleep at the podium!” She held forth her own glass of water. “Take this.” 

He grabbed it from her. He wasn’t actually thirsty, but he took a sip to comfort her because she was oddly intent on watching him finish it. 

When he was done, she grabbed it back from him to take it to the sink. “Study is tidy, kitchen is clean, no more reasons for you to get up. Go to bed, Professor.” She pointed at the staircase, but her hand was lost in the darkness the second it moved out of the slit of moonlight. Her shoulders hunched as she glared at him. “Get to sleep.” She sounded like she was the parent for a change.

He appreciated her stubbornness, as childish as it came off, and allowed her to put a hand on his back to walk him up the stairs again. 

“Go to bed this time. Don’t make me come in there,” she warned, her arms crossing again as she stalked back to her own room at the end of the hall. 

He shut the door with a more affectionate sigh, not risking a glance at his bureau. He pulled back his curtains to look out at the moon, a silver glow filtered down into his room, casting some light on the mess on his floor. He was falling behind again.

He waited longer this time before attempting to sneak back down to his office. He knew Emma wanted him to get some rest, but she didn’t understand that it was just impossible right now. He had too much on his mind and the only way to fix that was through music. He couldn’t sit up all night doing nothing, that would really make him tired. 

Tonight, the thoughts in his head were so loud as they jostled for his attention with each other that he was almost worried Emma would hear them as he tried to sneak past her door again. 

“Professor!” 

He knew he was in trouble as he was caught for the second time. “Emma, why are you still awake? You should be going to sleep by now. It’s nearly 3am!” He tapped his wrist even though he didn’t have a watch on. He wanted to flip the tables on her, and he backed her into her room. He held her shoulders to spin her around to face her bed. “You don’t have to worry about me, Emma. I will go to sleep when I get tired but I have some adult business to get through first.”

“I’m not a kid, you don’t have to call it adult business,” she retorted. “You’re going to go write music, I know. It helps you relax, but I think you’re so stressed out because you don’t get enough sleep. And I don’t want you to be stressed,” she made a motion with her hands like she was smoothing something out. “I’ll go to my bed if you promise to go to yours.”

He wasn’t going to argue with Emma on her reasoning. It was better she didn’t know. “I don’t think we can make that deal, Emma dear. You aren’t the one in charge here, I’m the adult.” 

“I’m thirty,” Emma pointed out, but Hidgens cleared his throat to cut her off. 

“You don’t have to worry about me in the slightest. I was just going to collect some pillows from the couch. I was a little uncomfortable.” 

She gave him a skeptical look. “Go put some pyjamas on. I’ll get some pillows and blankets for you.” She pushed past Hidgens, stomping down the hall. “Go to bed! Get changed!” 

He held up his hands in defence. He was not getting past his stubborn little child. 

He returned to his morose room, slipping out of his warm turtleneck and feeling the cold air of his room chill his bare skin as he wondered around in search of the pyjamas he wore so little.

He found them discarded in his bottom drawer, and was just doing up the last button as Emma entered, pillows in hand. 

She was a little timid at first, it was always implied his room was a bit out of bounds when she had first moved in with him. Mostly due to respect, but it was as if she was just realising she was allowed in here now. “Good,” there was a falter in the courage of her voice as she set a pillow down on his sheets. 

“Emma, isn’t that your pillow?” He squinted in the darkness, only just making out the light pink colour of the pillow case. 

Emma shrugged. “You can have it if you need it. I want you to go to sleep well.” She pulled back his sheets, patting a hand on the mattress to tell him to get in.

He sat down on the side, lifting his legs up only for Emma to immediately throw the sheets back over like she was worried he would get back up.

He wasn’t a psychology professor, but he knew quite a bit about it from some of his acquaintances at work. 

There was something interesting that he had stuck to that came to mind as Emma tucked him in like she really didn’t see the humour to it. 

It was something called observational learning. When a child copies someone else’s actions. It intrigued him because it wasn’t always their parents that they copied, it was anyone they found familiar or admired. Someone they looked up to enough to want to be like them. 

So when she tucked him in, scolding him in his own words for not getting enough sleep and needing to look after himself more, he was almost flattered. 

“Now get some sleep so you can be up and awake for work!” She sat down at the foot of his bed, legs crossed and her pillow clutched to her chest. “You’re digging your heels in a bit more than usual, Hidgens,” she rested her head on her pillow, even though it wasn’t really holding her neck up. 

“Oh it’s nothing dear,” he sat up against the headrest, watching her shuffle up to sit besides him. He put an arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. “I just have a lot on my mind, but I’m getting sleepy now,” he told her so she wouldn’t enforce his sleep anymore than she was already. The racing thoughts in his head cleared up as Emma tucked herself up against him. His head just seemed clearer. He felt less alone.  
“And you’re adamant not to go to bed either it seems. Why?” 

Emma mumbled, closing her eyes. “I told you. I just had a weird nightmare.”

“About what?” 

“It’s dumb,” she shook her head, snuggling up closer to him. “I’ve just been thinking about Jane a lot.”

“Ah, I’m sorry Emma dear,” he patted her back, drawing circles with his palm. 

Emma grumbled at the memory. “No, but my nightmare wasn’t about Jane. I was just having a bad dream about losing you too. And I just wanted to make sure you were looking after yourself and being healthy. Y’know, because I couldn’t lose you either.” Her head was now entirely tucked into his arm, he had no way of seeing her face. 

“Oh dearest.” That must have been why she came to find him when she woke up.  
He gave her a one-armed hug, encouraging her to sink into him, still cuddled to her pillow. “I’ve got plenty of years in me yet,” he promised her.

“You better,” she tried to sound in charge again, but she just sounded miserable. “Please keep looking after yourself Hidgens.” 

“I promise I will my dear. And it’s a good thing I’ve got you here to remind me.”

Emma nodded. She had been slipping down slowly from where she sat, and was now half laying down, her head against his stomach. “Yeah.” 

“Do you want to go to your own bed now Emma?” He asked her. 

She shook her head like she had to defend her position. “I don’t want to have that nightmare again, Hidgens. Can I just stay here?”

He didn’t mind her there at all. It helped keep his own head clear too. Even now with the open window casting moonlight onto the photo frames on his desk, bringing an eerie clarity to the old faces behind the glass, his mind was still. It only had one thought now, and that was to ensure Emma wasn’t going to be so scared. 

“Good night, Emma,” he murmured, his fatigue finally brought on by the comfort she provided. 

With a smile that put an end to her worries, she looked back up at him with sleepy eyes. “Good night, Hidgens.”


End file.
